-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- China 's foreign minister pushed Friday for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe , saying no country has a right to dictate the internal affairs of another nation , state-run media reported .

Starting in 2002 , the European Union and the United States imposed targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and some senior party members amid rampant reports of stifling his political opposition , human rights violations and his controversial land reform policy that has targeted white commercial farmers .

Mugabe blames the sanctions for his country 's woes , which late last year included an unemployment rate of more than 90 % and an inflation rate of 231,000,000 % .

Speaking Friday during a two-day visit to Harare , Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that `` China believes that Africans have the right to choose their own way of development , as they are masters of the African continent . All others are just guests . ''

`` We think that -LRB- lifting sanctions -RRB- is the voice of the Zimbabwean people , and that is also the view of all the parties concerned here in Zimbabwe , '' Yang said , according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency .

As part of his trip , China extended an additional 50 million yuan -LRB- $ 7.5 million -RRB- in aid to the economically ravaged African nation , Xinhua reported . In addition , Yang and Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi signed an agreement on behalf of the two countries .

According to Xinhua , Mugabe on Friday said sanctions flew in the face of a 1979 agreement with Great Britain that land would be redistributed to compensate farmers .

`` The Western countries have imposed sanctions on us for taking our land , although we had discussed this in 1979 , '' he said . `` That is what started the problem . ''

Last December , Mugabe threatened to seize all Western-owned investments in the country unless their governments remove targeted sanctions imposed on him and his senior ZANU-PF party members .

The 86-year-old former guerrilla leader said at the time that `` the time has come for ... revenge '' and suggested that Zimbabwe 's Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act -- which gives foreign companies five years to submit plans for transferring 51 % of their investments to black Zimbabweans -- did not go far enough .

Mugabe has held power since Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 . A 2008 election resulted in a runoff between Mugabe and Tsvangirai . Movement for Democratic Change , charging fraud in the election , eventually pulled out , and Mugabe was declared the winner .

In 2009 , with ZANU-PF no longer a majority in the parliament , Mugabe formed a coalition government with Tsvangirai , who was named prime minister .

Mugabe said last December that he was tired of working with the opposition party , which he said `` lacked ideology and policies . '' He termed the unity government a `` creature . ''

At the time , he warned Western diplomats not to interfere in Zimbabwe 's elections , which he said would be held next year . He said the West had contributed to his party 's defeat in 2008 .

Despite isolation from the West , Mugabe 's supporters include his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad .

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Report : China 's foreign minister : `` Africans have the right to choose their own way ''

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He says that lifting sanctions reflects `` the voice of the Zimbabwean people ''

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The E.U. , U.S. and others have imposed sanctions since 2002 over alleged rights violations

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Zimbabwe 's ruler has blamed the sanctions for ruining his nation 's economy